I have a web site using a database named lets say "site1". I am planning to put another site on the same server which will also use some of the tables from "site1".
So should I use three different databases like "site1" (for first site specific data), "site2" (for second site specific data), and "general" (for common tables). In which there will be join statements between databases general and site1 and site2. Or should I put all tables in one database?
Which is the best practice to do? How performances differ in each situation? I am using MySQL. So how is the situation especially for MySQL?
Thanks in advance...
From the performance point of view, there won't be ANY difference. Just keep your indexes in place and you will not notice whether you are using single DB or multiple DBs.
Apart from performance, there are 2 small implications that I can think of: 1. You can not have foreign keys across DBs. 2. Partitioning tables in DB based on their usage or based on applications can help you manage permissions in easy way.